1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to internal surgery and, more particularly, to an apparatus for safely isolating and removing a mass, growth, or cyst from within an internal body cavity. The invention is also directed to a method of using the apparatus to perform a surgical procedure.
2. Background Art
Advances in laparoscopic instruments and methods, as well as improvements in image resolution obtained by video equipment, have expanded the horizons of operative laparoscopy to new levels of achievement. It is now possible, through laparoscopy, to perform even major surgery on an outpatient basis.
To perform laparoscopic surgery, a sleeve, defining a working passageway, is directed through body tissue into a cavity in which the surgical procedure is to be performed. The cavity is distended by introducing a gas, such as CO.sub.2. Several of the sleeves may be employed, depending upon the nature of the procedure. Various types of instruments can be directed through the sleeves to perform the surgery.
One concern with laparoscopic surgery is the fear of disseminating cancerous, infectious, or irritating material from abdominal lesions through spillage from the lesions during removal thereof from within the body cavity. As one example of this problem, when gallbladder surgery is performed, as to remove stones, if no precautions are taken, bile can spread out in the abdomen and cause peritonitis. Similarly, cutting into an infectious lesion may cause exposure of internal organs and tissues to dangerous amounts of noxious puss, or the like, from the lesion.
To avoid these problems, when practicing conventional laparoscopic techniques, surgeons must exercise great care. In so doing, the length of the procedures is often greatly increased, which is obviously undesirable. However, regardless of the care exercised, the abdominal organs may become exposed directly to the harmful contents of a lesion during the operation. Similarly, when a large excised tumor is to be removed from the abdomen, it must be broken down in place and removed, piece by piece, through an abdominal sleeve having a diameter on the order of 10 mm by the process of morcellation. This results in tedious operations which are time consuming and, in spite of caution being exercised, occasionally hazardous. Additionally, fragments of the tumor or tissue which is morcellated may float away from the surgical site and may ultimately be left in the body cavity. This problem is particularly aggravated in operations which require periodic flushing during the performance of the operation. These tumors or tissue fragments may float out of the pelvic cavity during lavage and disappear, at least temporarily, into the abdominal cavity.